Single mom rebuilds after fire

On September 15th, a single mom from St. Paul’s life changed in an instant. Tara Preusche came home to a fire that had started in her house. Due to many circumstances such as separation, court appearances, and health issues there was no home insurance on the home at that time; which leaves Tara responsible for the repairs. Two months later, she is working on rebuilding for her kids.

There has been a GoFundMe page set up to help aid Tara in the costs of the rebuild. According to the page, “Tara had been couch surfing while working and dedicating all spare time to the cleanup and salvage of The home and start the rebuild of her children’s family home.” The St. Paul fire department’s efforts and response time was outstanding, says Tara; however the fire was still able to do quite a lot of damage. “With the help of great friends the cleanup & rebuild has been started; but due to lack of financial support to purchase building supplies we have done to a standstill.” The goal is to reach out the communities near & far to help finish the rebuild.

Prior to the fire, Tara had a renter in the basement, which was renovated two years ago. Since the fire, Tara has not been able to house a renter, causing even more of a financial strain on her life. She has become worried she won’t be able to make mortgage payments. “She had been forced to move back into move the home with no electricity and using firewood donated to keep her warm and from any further damage such as freezing pipes to occur.”

Tara is hopeful she will be able to complete the rebuild and have her children back in the family home for Christmas. If you would like to donate to the rebuild efforts, visit her GoFundMe page.